a. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to glasses worn on the head, namely, eyeglasses, sunglasses, prop glasses, and combinations of these, wherein a user may add, remove or interchange various selections of facades to glasses. These facades may cover the front of the main frame, its periphery or both. Thus, a single pair of glasses may have different colors, shapes and may include or exclude facades of different colors shapes and styles. The facades are sections of cover materials that have no lenses and cover part or all of the frames that are revealed from a front and/or a side view. That is, they are generally decorative, but also add strength to and protect the main frame from damage (sunlight, dropping, scratching, etc.). With the present invention, a single pair of prescription glasses or sunglasses can go from conservative office styles to neon colors, to alligator, cloth, polished or shiny metal or leather trim. Thus, the facades may use any colors, shapes and materials of construction that have been used in the glasses industry, as well as others not yet utilized.
b. Description of Related Art
The following patents are representative of the field pertaining to glasses with interchangeable parts:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,028,350 B2 to Hogen describes various embodiments of eyewear provided for advantageous use in sports and work, as well as in casual activity. According to one embodiment, an eyeglass can include a frame and an eyecup assembly coupled to the frame. The eyecup assembly can include a resilient side member that has a first proximal portion that is fixed relative to the frame and a second distal portion that is movable relative to the frame and biased toward the frame. The eyecup assembly can also include an adjustment mechanism that is coupled to the resilient side member and positioned at least partially between the resilient side member and the frame. The adjustment mechanism can be selectively operable to flex the resilient side member to move the second distal portion away from the frame and to un-flex the resilient side member to move the second distal portion toward the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,874,668 B2 to Brousseau et al describes an eyeglass frame, the eyeglass frame being usable for supporting a first lens and a second lens, the eyeglass frame comprising: a first rim and a second rim, the first and second rims being provided for supporting respectively the first and second lenses; a bridge attaching the first and second rims to each other; and a nose pad removably attachable to the first rim; the first rim defining a nose pad attachment for removably attaching the nose pad thereto, the nose pad attachment being deformable between a locked configuration in which the nose pad is fixedly attached to the nose pad attachment and an unlocked configuration in which the nose pad is movable relative to the nose pad attachment for selectively attaching the nose pad to the nose pad attachment and detaching the nose pad from the nose pad attachment; the first rim being deformable between a lens supporting configuration in which the first rim is able to support the first lens and a deformed configuration, the deformed configuration being achievable when the first rim is deprived of the first lens; wherein when the first rim is in the lens supporting configuration, the nose pad attachment is in the locked configuration and when the first rim is in the deformed configuration, the nose pad attachment is in the unlocked configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,212 B2 to Panisset describes a spectacles consist of an optical or sunshade front optionally supported by a frame and comprising two interchangeable temples. Each temple is connected to the front or to the frame by a male part and an associated joint. In the spectacles, the joint of each temple consists of at least one pin arranged transversely in a corresponding longitudinal slot formed at one end of a free temple. The pin can be snapped into an elastically deformable recess formed in a plate projecting from the male part, the shape and dimensions of which are approximately the same as those of the slot of the temple, or vice versa.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,039 B2 to Sheldon describes an eyewear is provided having an interchangeable lens or temple portion. The eyewear comprises an interchangeable lens portion comprising a lens portion having an upper and a lower edge, and a left and a right lens region extending sidewardly each having a distal end; a pair of connecting members, each having a proximate end and a distal end and a hollow receiving area therein beginning at the proximate end and running into the connecting member; the distal end of the lens regions being shaped to fit within the proximate end of the connecting members wherein, the lens regions are releasably accepted and held within the hollow receiving area of the connecting members; and wherein the connecting members are releasable from the lens portion by applying a torsional force on one of the connecting member and the lens portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,621,633 B1 to Foster describes a modular eyeglass frame that includes a lens frame and a plurality of handles with oppositely facing first and second sides. Each side may include unique surface indicia. A mechanism for interchangeably connecting the handles to the lens frame may further be included. A coupling may be attached to a proximal end of one of the handles. Helical spring members may be mated to the coupling at one end and may include a bearing at another end. Receiving blocks may be attached to the lateral ends of the lens frame and may feature sockets formed in an inner wall thereof, to receive each bearing. Grooves may be formed in lateral sides of the receiving blocks. Such grooves may be effectively axially aligned with locking arms such that the locking arms are interfitted inside the grooves when the coupling is interfitted between the receiving blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,717 B2 to Bloch describes an eyeglasses apparatus and transformation system thereof, facilitating quick and easy convertibility of the left and right traditionally folding temples into an adjustable headband; thereby making the light-weight eyeglasses much more suited to dynamic activities such as jogging, skiing, and cycling for example. The user of this eyewear can advantageously move between more sedentary situations, where the extreme appearance of eye-goggles would appear very out of place;—yet by manually releasing an inconspicuously integrated pair of bifurcated retention-latches located immediately afterward of both temple-hinges, the temples can be instantly detached and readily interchanged with a headband employing similar slide-in bayonet-type retention-latches. The disclosure identifies a particularly critical human-factors problem addressed by the uniquely configured finger operated opposed latches; plus, the notion of my slim-lined detachable-temples, enables a host of optional companion accessory temple embodiments, facilitating a miniature radio, cell-phone, or digital-camera;—conveniences for the person on the go!
U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,952 B2 to Polovin describes a pair of glasses that includes a lens frame supporting a pair of lenses. The frame includes rearwardly extending temple mountings to which there is releasably attached temples. The temples are releasably attach to the mountings by means of clip assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,561 B1 to Cheng describes safety goggles that include a primary frame having a top provided with two raised seats and an upwardly extending tongue between the two raised seats, each of the seats having a first pin extending outwardly longitudinally from an end thereof and a second pin extending outwardly longitudinally from another end thereof, a lens frame having a top provided with two cavities aligned with the two raised seats, each of the cavities being formed with a groove and an opening configured to receive the first pin and the second pin respectively, a recess being formed between the two cavities and aligned with the tongue, the recess having an inclined surface at an outer side thereof and a chamfer at an inner side thereof, the chamfer being located close to the opening, whereby the goggles can be rapidly manufactured and assembled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,292 to Wiedner describes glasses, in particular industrial safety or sports glasses, with an integral continuous sight piece and with inclination-adjustable side pieces articulated on a frame piece it is provided for the purpose of defined and reliable inclination-adjustment accompanied by the advantage of low-cost manufacturing that the sight piece has lateral backwards oriented appendixes formed in one piece with it and extending about in parallel to the wearer's head, that a frame piece with lateral appendixes is arranged along the upper edge of the sight piece surrounding the latter and the latter's appendixes, that the frame piece with the articulated side pieces is supported on the sight piece pivotably around a horizontal pivot axis, in that pins are arranged on the inside of each of the appendixes, that the pins engage with semicircular slits concentric of the pivot axis in the appendixes of the sight piece, wherein, to arrest the pins in certain angular positions of the slits, the latter are formed by a plurality of approximately annular locking recesses intersecting to form locking protrusions and approximately corresponding to the cross-section of the pin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,025 to Wang describes a sunshade and sunglasses which may be interchangeably detachably attached to vision correcting eye glasses is provided. The attachment being by means of flexi-grip-catch pairs. A pair of flexi-grips are integrally formed on the top of an eyeglass frame for correcting lenses and are adapted for being received by a first pair of catches that are integrally formed on the top of a frame of a pair of sunglasses which has no temples, or a second pair of catches fixedly positioned underneath a sunshade. The positions of the respective first and second pairs of catches are in alignment with the position of the flexi-grips. By pressing the first pair of catches onto the respective flexi-grips, the sunglass lenses are pivotally attached thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,728 to Magorien describes a detachable two-piece temple having a front piece swivelly attached to the back of an eyeglass frame and a back piece that is quickly, easily and securely attached and detached from the front piece. The front piece has extending from its rear surface a resilient locking rod, that includes a lock notch, and a guide rod. The back piece includes a locking rod cavity sized to accept and retain the rod, a guide rod cavity that is sized to accept and retain the rod, and a locking-rod release opening that has a lock notch catch. When the back piece is inserted into the front piece, the locking rod and guide rod enter their respective cavities. When fully entered, the lock notch slips upwardly into the lock notch catch to securely hold the two pieces together. To release the two pieces, the lock notch is depressed while the back piece is pulled away from the front piece. The temple can be used to enhance fashion glasses by allowing temples of various colors and patterns to be used with eyeglass frames. The temple may also be designed to serve as safety glasses by attaching to the front and back pieces, a top safety shield and a side safety shield that prevent foreign objects from entering the area of the eyes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,043 to Werner et al describes a sun shade is provided for a pair of glasses including right and left hand panel structures for disposition immediately forward of the right and left hand lenses of the glasses and the panel structures are guidingly supported relative to each other for movement toward and away from each other. Biasing means is connected between the panel sections for biasing the latter toward each other and remote portions of the panel structure include upstanding, tensioned elastic members which may have their vertical mid-portions deflected apart by the temples of the associated glasses rearward of the pivot axes thereof and the upper margins of the panel sections include rearwardly projecting support flange sections for overlying the right and left hand portions of the associated glasses. The support flange sections support the weight of the sun shade from the glasses and the elastic members enjoy a non-slip frictional engagement with the glasses temples to not only prevent forward displacement of the sun shade relative to the glasses but to also exert inward biasing forces on the glasses temples rearward of the pivot axes thereof such that the grip of the temples on the head of the wearer of the glasses is increased to compensate for the additional weight of the sun shade supported from the glasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,749 to McGee describes a protective eyewear which may be tinted for use as sunglasses having a preformed one piece lens arrangement with a recessed border and removable temples hinged to the preformed lens. The removable temple pieces have posts which fit sockets at opposite upper and lower ends of the preformed lens. Interchangeable decorative frames allow the wearer to change the appearance of the protective eyewear at will. The interchangeable decorative frames have pins which snap into the sockets used for the hinges for the temple pieces allowing the frame to be easily removed and replaced with a different color or design decorative frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,589 to Bienenfeld describes a clip-on flip-up goggles of novel construction are provided wherein a simply constructed inexpensive shield holder and clipping means permit manual adjustment of the shield to any one of five positions for use or storage out of use while still secured to the frame of a pair of spectacles. Also, a simple shield holder is provided for detachably securing the shield so it can be easily interchanged with other shields. Also, an easily fabricated and assembled clipping means is provided.